Biden Administration Prepared to Release More Oil from Strategic Stockpile
In a move to prevent a spike in petrol prices this summer, the Biden administration is gearing up to release more oil from the US strategic stockpile, as reported by the Financial Times on Monday.
Senior Biden adviser, Amos Hochstein, expressed concern that oil prices are still too high for many Americans and emphasized the need for them to be reduced further.
Hochstein, in an interview with the FT, stated that the US will continue to purchase oil into next year until the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has reached its necessary volume to ensure energy security.
Throughout this year, the Energy Department has been acquiring approximately 3 million barrels of oil per month for the SPR. This comes after the US sold 180 million barrels in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to a surge in gasoline prices exceeding $5 a gallon. However, this selling spree diminished the reserve to its lowest level in four decades.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm recently mentioned to Reuters that as maintenance on the stockpile is set to be completed by the end of the year, the US could accelerate the rate of replenishing the SPR.